Via Copyranter comes this great anti-suffrage ad from 1915. Seriously, ladies, if you don’t want to accept the vote, Alice Paul will hold a gun to your head and force a ballot into your hand.

“The Suffragists demand that MEN shall FORCE the burden of politics upon ALL WOMEN Without the Consent of the Ninety Per Cent. IS THAT DEMOCRATIC? IS THAT JUST?”

Well, jeez, when you put it that way….

Also: “Woman Suffrage is part of the Feminist Movement, and is wanted by every Socialist, every I.W.W., and every Mormon.” It’s nice that some things never change.

I’ve decided that in the category of “Conservative Arguments in Favor of the Status Quo that Will Look Totally Silly in 50 Years,” this is really one of my all-time favorites: “Trust Us, You Actually Don’t Even Want Those Rights You Think You Do.”

Atlanta, GA

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director in charge of Editorial at Feministing. Maya has previously worked at NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the National Institute for Reproductive Health and was a fellow at Mother Jones magazine. She graduated with a B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. A Minnesota native, she currently lives, writes, edits, and bakes bread in Atlanta, Georgia.

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Editorial.